Congressional 'Gang of 8' Access Docs From Trump, Biden, Pence Homes

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Facts

  • The US Biden admin. has reportedly granted the 'Gang of Eight' — the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate intelligence committees and the four leaders of the House and Senate — access to the classified documents found at the homes of Pres. Joe Biden, former Pres. Donald Trump, and former VP Mike Pence.1
  • This comes after repeated requests from Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Vice Chairman Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), with Warner lambasting Biden for not disclosing the contents of the documents last month.2
  • This sentiment has been echoed along party lines, with both Democrats and Republicans for months having accused the Dept. of Justice (DOJ) of disregarding Congress' oversight authority, with several senators allegedly threatening to withhold DOJ funding.3
  • Over 300 classified documents at Trump's home led Special Counsel Jack Smith to probe whether he violated the Espionage Act or obstruction of justice laws.4
  • Along with Smith, Attorney General Merrick Garland has also appointed special counsel Robert Hur to investigate whether Pres. Biden violated the Presidential Records Act or compromised national security.2
  • The 'Gang of Eight' reportedly began reviewing the documents 'in tranches' last week.5

Sources: 1CBS, 2New York Post, 3The hill, 4Washington examiner and 5CNN.

Narratives

  • Democratic narrative, as provided by Washington post. While the DOJ may have been able to grant access earlier, Sen. Warner has already confirmed that the department was willing to share as much information as it could months ago. This move by the Biden admin. shows that, unlike his predecessor, the president and his attorney general believe in executive branch transparency and respect for Congressional oversight.
  • Republican narrative, as provided by Townhall. While a welcome move, this hardly attests to Biden's transparency. The more likely reason behind this sudden U-turn is that it could be an attempt to distract from new revelations regarding how the Mar-a-Lago raid was conducted. According to America First Legal, the Biden admin. made a 'special access request' to the DOJ to send FBI agents storming into Trump's estate, suggesting that it was, and still is, a politically motivated witch hunt.